They probably won't admit to even coming to that conclusion. They certainly weren't at Thursday's press conference. The party line had the kid always coming good or going to come good. So maybe they swallowed their own nonsense.

Sensible football people at the club had made stupid statements. The great coach Kevin Sheedy was reduced to admiring his ability to punch the ball. But through his 13-game career, Folau seemed only to master clutching at straws.

And for a couple of punches a game you pay millions? We know two golden retrievers who could get more ball than Folau. On the lead or on the leash.

But AFL administrators and GWS officials who chased Folau two years ago persisted that Folau would have conquered the game. Yet that development was always going to be a bonus, for he was prised away from rugby league for a very different reason and a bucketload of money.

He was a marketing tool. The face of the 18th team in the competition in distinctly anti-AFL territory.

That goal was achieved. The Giants became known as Izzy's team. And it was a solid blow to the pride of rugby league that one of its stars would prefer to play with a nondescript start-up AFL side.

Thursday's presser was an honest and cordial farewell for Folau. The respect between Folau, Giants chief executive David Matthews and coach Sheedy was obvious. The way Matthews and Sheedy spoke, the way Folau responded suggested his integrity was not questioned, his reasons for leaving not second-guessed.

Folau did not lose his passion for AFL because none existed. He conceded that two years in the system had ignited nothing like the joy that swamped him when he played in the NRL.

Folau said his next move was neither settled nor clear. All matters were with his manager and he did not rule out rugby union.

He had been thinking about his decision for more than a month. So his meeting and consequent resignation with Matthews and Sheedy was not anticipated. Folau had discussed his future only with his family.

The task that confronted Folau in the 2013 AFL side was overwhelming when you consider his 13th and last game with the Giants saw him collect nine possessions. This was rated by Sheedy as his best game. He averaged 3.2 disposals for the year.

Most telling were not the statistics but his movement and carriage on the field. He did not look like a man who understood his work, never mind enjoyed it. Sport for Folau - in the AFL at least - had become a task where previously it had only ever been a celebration to this gifted athlete.

It is necessary to do the sums of this transaction, which dominated the media when Folau's defection was made public.

Obviously, the AFL and the Giants will consider themselves winners. They drew publicity that money and traditional promotion techniques might have bought but could never have been as effective or penetrative.

Given that there was always a belief among the public that it was a publicity stunt, the fact that Folau never prospered as a footballer was of little relevance.

The timing of his arrival and departure has been perfect for the Giants. He drummed in the club and he leaves it now with Kurt Tippett, Adelaide's much-hyped forward, available to the Giants in the draft. The Giants now have room in the salary cap to add Tippett to their line-up if that is their want.

Rugby league is a winner. One of its stars was lured to the great rival code, did his best with it, but ultimately found it unfulfilling and unrewarding. And too hard. Rugby league will say he came to his senses.

Folau is a winner in one way. He is richer than he would have been had he stayed in rugby league. The AFL pays its coups well. And Folau stressed that it was the right call.

"It definitely wasn't a mistake. I wouldn't change the experience for anything. I learnt a lot about myself," he said.

Primarily he learnt he could not play AFL. Not well enough that it was enjoyable anyway.

But in truth Folau is the only loser out of the experiment. He lost two years of playing the game in which he was a star; in a game that came to him so naturally he might have played it in the womb.

Now, if he is to become a rugby league star again, he must regain his old NRL fitness, relearn its rhythms, spark an old passion.

Let's hope he does because at the Giants this great athlete's skill and reputation were rapidly being dwarfed.

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